Spiced Sugar Cookies

1 and 1/3 cup sifted flour

1/4 a cup almond meal

1 egg yolk

3/4 cup of icing sugar

a little less than 1/2 cup of soft butter

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

Plus ground cinnamon and powdered sugar for dusting.

Put your flours and spices into a bowl, then add your soft butter and quickly work it into the flour until it all looks crumbly.

Don’t panic! Simply add your yolk and milk and knead with the palm of your hands to release the gluten in the flour that will magically turn this goop into perfect cookie dough.

Add the vanilla, then roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out your dough onto a floured surface. Cut out your cookies and place them onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Place in the fridge for 10 minutes while you bring your oven to 340 Farenheit.

Bake for 10/12 minutes. They will still feel quite soft, but keep in mind that they will firm up during the cooling time.

Dust the angles with ground cinnamon and icing sugar while they are still hot from the oven and surrender to the Christmas Spirit!  Great for Christmas, but we make them year round.